It's unfortunate, but true: Islam is the only major religion with a developed doctrine of deception, called taqiyya.

This important and intrinsic Islamic doctrine is discussed to some degree or another in five more books which I have already reviewed on this Web site. Let's take a quick look at each of them to see what we can learning about Islamic lying and deception.

"Lying is not always bad, to be sure; there are times when telling a lie is more profitable and better for the general welfare... than telling the truth."

In the Hadith, Mohammed said: "...war necessitates deception." Considering that Islam defines the entire non-Muslim world as the House of War (Dar al-Harb), it is acceptable to always lie and deceive non-Muslims.

Winston Churchill described this as a "system of ethics, which regards treachery and violence as virtues rather than vices." John Quincy Adams wrote that to Muslims, "treachery and violence are taught as principles of religion."

Taqiya in our own time is reflected in the attempts by Muslim activists in the West to present Islam favorably, replete with tolerance and peace, faith and charity, equality and brotherhood. The "misunderstood Muslim" tell us that Jihad is really the "striving for Allah" and "inner struggle." They quote the abrogated [naskh] Meccan verses and keep quiet about the later, Medinan ones. They accuse those who question Islam of being racist.

Religious deception (practiced on hapless unbelievers) is taught by the Qur'an itself, telling Muslims: "Let not the believers take for friends or helpers unbelievers rather than believers. If any do that, in nothing will there be help from Allah; except by way of precaution, that ye may guard yourselves from them" (Surah 3:28). In other words, don't make friends with unbelievers except to "guard yourselves from them": Pretend to be their friends so that you can strengthen yourself against them.

The distinguished Qur'anic commentator Ibn Kathir explains that, in this verse, "Allah prohibited His believing servants from becoming supporters of the disbelievers, or to take them as comrades with whom they develop friendships, rather than the believers." However, exempted from this rule were "those believers who in some areas or times fear for their safety from the disbelievers. In this case, such believers are allowed to show friendship to the disbelievers outwardly, but never inwardly."

Jihadists today have spoken of the usefulness of deceptive practices. Remember that the next time you see a Muslim spokesman on television professing his friendship with non-Muslim Americans and his loyalty to the United States. Of course, he may be telling the truth — but he may not be telling the whole truth or he may be just lying. And it's virtually certain that whoever is conducting the interview will not ask him about this passage of the Qur'an.

Reza Safa, author of Inside Islam says that as long as a lie helps or protects a fellow Muslim or the Islamic faith, it is not considered a sin.

In fact, a Muslim can profess the faith in total insincerity if necessary to avoid persecution. "Whereas the Bible says you die if you're persecuted, the Quran says no, you can lie to get out of persecution," says former Muslim Hale Smith. Lying about religion to avoid persecution is actually an Islamic doctrine called taqiya, or "dodging the threat," which is accepted by both Shia and Sunni Muslims.

In practice, Muslims have applied the concept of expedient duplicity more broadly over time, say historians. When Muslims were a minority community in parts of the Middle East, it encouraged them to temporarily adopt a peaceful attitude to deceive their non-Muslim neighbors, while secretly planning subversion. As Islam advanced on the battlefield, it was used as subterfuge to convince targeted enemies that jihad, or holy war, was not aimed at them, scholars say. It was also used as propaganda to seed discord among the ranks of the enemy.

Historically, "al-taqiya was a formidable weapon," says Walid Phares, a Lebanese-American political professor at Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton, Florida. "Today, scholars may identify it as deception."

The Arab media often uses taqiya to cast Islam in the best light and the West in the worst light, severely distorting facts in the process, admits the editor of the London-based daily Al-Sharq Al-Awsat. Arab reporters believe "that lying for the sake of the cause is moral and honorable," says Abd al-Rahman al-Rashed.

In Washington, Muslim activists and lobbyists use lies as a legitimate means of gaining political clout. They pass themselves and their agendas off as peace-loving and patriotic. They cannot frankly discuss their views and still maintain their viability in the political arena. That would only arouse suspicion and lead to their isolation. So they and the organizations they represent usually couch their true beliefs about things like Jews and jihad in moderate language while addressing the non-Muslim public. Only before Muslim audiences do they speak openly of their true feelings, as secretly taped recordings have revealed to their chagrin.

Whenever Muslim leaders are asked to condemn violent attacks on non-Muslims, they sternly denounce "all forms of terrorism," while pointing out that Islam forbids terrorism and any violence against "innocent" people or "civilians." Technically, they are right. Such statements are accurate, but they are cleverly worded dodges. You see, Islamists do not consider all non-Muslims as "innocent" or "civilians." And what the West defines as "terrorism," they may define as "legitimate resistance" or "justice." So their statements against terrorism and terrorists are really nothing more than legal lies. It all depends on what their meaning is. Left unquestioned and unparsed, such circumlocution has helped Muslim leaders de-link terror from their faith in the mind of the American public. They also count on no one cracking open the Quran to verify their denials about violent Islam.

"In dealing with non-Muslims, lying and deceit is permissible" under the Islamic doctrine of taqiya, Hale Smith emphasizes. "It's okay to feed them a moderate version of Islam. Any lie that promotes or advances Islam is good, and you don't advance Islam [in non-Muslim countries] by showing its warts."

Finally, let's take a look at the excellent and highly-recommended The Islamic Antichrist by Joel Richardson, who also devotes an entire chapter — "Understanding Dishonesty and Deceit in Islam" — to our topic. Because this is a twelve-page chapter, I will obviously be able to quote only a small portion of it here. But since this is a book you should definitely be reading in its entirety, when you do, you will also be able to read this entire chapter.

This discussion is so very important for two reasons. Firstly, because of the prominence of deception in the Last Days, and secondly, because of the grave implications that deception for the cause of Islam has for the spread of Islam in the West.

It is imperative to understand the degree to which lying is not only permitted, but actually fostered and even, at times, commanded in Islam.... Most Westerners have a hard time relating to the fact that purposeful exaggerations, covering of the truth, and occasionally outright-deliberate lying are core parts of the religion of Islam. There are actually specific doctrines and traditions that foster a culture of dishonesty within Islam. Now, of course, there are some verses and traditions in Islam that discourage lying.... But unfortunately, for many Muslims, it is the exceptions to the rule that have actually become the rule itself.

Jihad is essentially viewed within Islam as a struggle to bring all things into submission to Allah and Islam.... In the Muslim mind, even the struggle to convert non-Muslims to Islam is part of jihad. Evangelism in Islam is more than just "sharing the good news," it is war. With this in mind, it is vital that we note Muhammad's famous saying that, "War is deception." Thus, when dealing with non-Muslims, Islam encourages Muslims to use an aggressive jihad/war-time mentality that is literally defined by deception.... When dealing with someone who is purposefully deceptive, trusting individuals — as so many in the West are these days — are like sheep being led to the slaughter.

This mentality of evangelism as jihad also finds its support in Islam under the category of two specific doctrines called kithman and taqiya.

Kithman is a command to deliberately conceal one's beliefs.... Shia Muslims are said to "belong to a religion that, whoever conceals it, Allah will honor him, and whoever reveals it, Allah will disgrace him." That is the doctrine of kithman. To most Westerners, this concept is unimaginable and completely contrary to reason. There is essentially no difference between the doctrine of kithman and the doctrine of taqiya, which is defined by one Shia Muslim commentator thusly:

The word "al-Taqiyya" literally means: "Concealing or disguising one's beliefs, convictions, ideas, feelings, opinions, and/or strategies at a time of imminent danger, whether now or later in time, to save oneself from physical and/or mental injury." A one-word translation would be "dissimulation."

The doctrines of kithman and taqiya are often said to be strictly Shia doctrines. Sunni Muslims, however, deny that either doctrine is part of their tradition. Unfortunately, this is merely another deception itself.... Muhammad actually encourages Muslims to lie and blaspheme and deny their beliefs if it was going to protect them.... This is, of course, quite a contrast to the millions of Christians throughout history who have refused to renounce Christ and have accepted instead death and martyrdom.

Taqiya is indeed a doctrine for all Muslims that allows them to literally deny any aspect of their faith in order to protect themselves from harm. The problem, however, is that in practice, the definition of "harm" has come to include a mere harming of one's reputation as a representative of Islam. Islamic tradition allows for deception to be used for several other purposes as well. Muhammad even allowed lying for the sake of gaining wealth:

After the conquest of the city of Khaybar by the Muslims, the Prophet was approached by Hajaj Ibn Aalat and told: "O Prophet of Allah: I have in Mecca some excess wealth and some relatives, and I would like to have them back; am I excused if I bad-mouth you to escape persecution?" The Prophet excused him and said: "Say whatever you have to say."

It is the "any end justifies the means" approach to life and religion that Muhammad displays that shines through the most here. And there are numerous other examples of Muhammad encouraging his followers to lie as a means to achieve the end goal of the furtherance of Islam.

Lying is permissible for any number of reasons. As long as the end goal is to further the cause of Muhammad or Islam, it is permissible and it overrides the initial prohibition against lying. In a certain case it was permissible in order to achieve the end goal of an assassination of someone whom Muhammad wanted dead. Unfortunately, because Islam holds up Muhammad as the supreme example of behavior for all Muslims, this same attitude is carried on by many of Muhammad's followers today.

Imam Al-Ghazali, one of the most famous Muslim theologians and philosophers of all time, takes the permissibility of lying even further. To Ghazali, lying is permissible so long as virtually any positive or beneficial goal may be achieved:

If a praiseworthy aim is attainable through both telling the truth and lying, it is unlawful to accomplish through lying because there is no need for it. When it is possible to achieve such an aim by lying but not by telling the truth, it is permissible to lie if attaining the goal is permissible. Know this, that lying is not sin by itself, but if it brings harm to you it could be ugly. However, you can lie if that will keep you from evil or if it will result in prosperity.

It is really quite impossible to deny that deceit has found a rich seedbed in Islam to deposit its roots and call home. We see that Islam as a religious system permits and even encourages lying and deceit as a specific aspect of its religious life. The unusual fusion of religion and deceit has profound implications both in matters relating to the spread of Islam in the West as well as in matters relating to our discussion about the Last Days.

When Americans witnessed numerous so-called moderate Muslims make speeches to defend the benign nature of "The Religion of Peace" after 9-11, many of these speakers were knowingly misrepresenting the true nature of Islam. Many have been documented speaking in far more aggressive terms in private meetings with other Muslims.... Christians, Americans, and unfortunately, even much of the political leadership, either desperately wanting to believe the best of people in order to comfort themselves in times of great uncertainty, or through the inevitable dumbing down of the West through the constant hammering of moral-relativity and political correctness, bought much of this deception — hook, line and sinker. Those few who were bold enough to speak the truth regarding the true nature of Islam were viewed as either intolerant or hateful or both. This is the pattern that is followed whenever a great evil is carried out by Islam. Pay attention and you will see it again and again.

In relation to the Last Days, the Biblical picture of that time is one where deception is the absolute rule of the day. Virtually every passage where the End Times are discussed in the New Testament, the author stresses that believers are to be very careful that they not be deceived.

I understand that to accuse anyone of being a liar is quite an insult. As such, I felt it was important to demonstrate thoroughly the fact that Muhammad, the Quran and Hadith as well as Islam's most respected scholars all allow lying as a means to achieve any number of goals. I have documented this fact quite plainly. This is not an unfounded accusation made by the "people of falsehood" (a name that the Quran ironically applies to non-Muslims) but is indeed an established doctrine and practice within Islam.

While I understand that this may feel like quite strong language, the simple truth is that Islam, as a religious system, is a son of its true father [the devil]. The demonic being that quite literally assaulted Muhammad in the Cave of Hira, is the same being that inspired the ungodly doctrines of deception that have so obviously affected the religion of Islam as we know it today.

While I am quite sure that these comments may offend most Muslims, my response would be to ask that they do not get upset with me for reporting this information, but rather that they express their anger toward the traditions of Muhammad and the scholars of Islam who not only condone, but encourage such behavior. It is behavior that simply should not be found among those who call themselves godly. The Bible calls on all people to strive to resemble their true Heavenly Father, the Author of all light and truth.

While most people will agree that religion and deception are not intermixable, it is clear that in Islam, deception and religion mutually support one another. Likewise we can be sure that in the Last Days, deception and religion will be so intertwined that it will be difficult even for "the elect" to discern just what is the truth. As such, once again, Islam finds itself fulfilling yet another of the primary descriptions of the Last Days system of the Antichrist.

Wow! All of this information is a somewhat overwhelming! But if you're ready to dig deeper, here are some excellent articles that discuss the role of deception in Islam: